ZAMBIA Railways Limited intends to run a passenger train between Chipata and Lilongwe District in Malawi.
Presenting a paper on the Chipata-Mchinji Railway line at a business forum organised by the Rotary Club of Chipata at Luangwa House on Tuesday, ZRL regional manager for the Nacala Corridor, Moses Sipumo, said ZRL wants to increase the passenger traffic to 400, 000 people per year from the current 200, 000.

The first train carrying ballast stones for the completion of the Chipata/Mchinji railway project arrived in Chipata in 2010 to the excitement of residents that gathered to witness the laying of the stones on the railway track.

“By 2014, we want to increase the volume of people on our train. They must come to us by choice not by being stranded. We are ordering new coaches and of course we would like to run a passenger train between Chipata and Lilongwe, we are looking into that as well,” he said.
Sipumo said in the initial stage, ZRL had planned to inject 100 wagons and some locomotives on the Nacala Corridor. “After meeting our customers in Lusaka and Lilongwe we have seen that what we pledged to put in is by far too little, the response is very overwhelming. As management, we are increasing the number of wagons to 250 instantly,” he said.
Sipumo also said ZRL signed business agreements with railway operators from both Malawi and Mozambique.
He said the construction works of a dry port in Chipata was in progress. Sipumo said ZRL had a total of 37 locomotives, out of which 24 were active while 13 needed major repairs. He added that the railway line had come up with a trade plan that would run from 2014 to 2018, all aimed at increasing the speed of trade between the countries. And incoming Rotary Club of Chipata president, Leo Jere, commended Eastern Province permanent secretary Dr Chileshe Mulenga, for accepting to grace the business forum. Jere assured Dr Mulenga that the club would look into his request of contributing towards the roofing of teachers’ houses at Kaleza Primary School in chief Chanje’s area.

Earlier, Dr Mulenga said after the Zambia/Malawi border was redefined, some teachers’ houses at Kaleza school went to the Malawian side and that the Zambian authorities were given an ultimatum to relocate.